Let's Make This Like A Band-Aid

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Brad Solo"]


"Don't mention it."


Force users were beyond her scope of knowledge and as such she was just doing the best she could on limited knowledge. Not one leave food, naturally she quickly finished up the meal in front of her, leaving the appropriate amount of credits for the waitress. It was a shame she couldn't get a glass of wine to go, she may have needed it on the walk back to her place if Mr. Two Personalities came to visit once again.

Grabbing her things, Delila led him back out onto the Etti IV streets. Like much of the Corporate Sector, it was second best to the Core world of the Galaxy but great in its own regard. Clearly there were numerous corporations and credits flowing in and out of the area like crazy. Much of downtown Etti IV was well appointed and bustling, with clean streets and a packed spaceport.

Yet Delila lived on the outskirts of the action, much closer to her place of employment. She chose to walk, especially after such a large meal. She kept fairly silent, unsure of what to say or do with Brad. It wasn't worth risk having another outburst. After long moments of silence in the busy streets, Delila turned down a side street. As they walked, it was changing into a different scene. Hardy trees started to line the street and there was more residential traffic than the industrial found on the planet. Buildings stood tall and gleaming.

Picking the large one at the corner of the block, they traveled up to the mid-level of the high rise. A thumbprint granted her access into the apartment, immediately thrusting them into the living room- kitchen combo. It was light and airy, deeply cleaned and highly organized. It was small and not much in the way of furnishings but Delila was certainly happy with her apartment.

Setting her bag down, she disappeared into the bedroom, emerging with an gray-white-black urban military uniform. Polished black boots were in the other hand as she set the items down on her kitchen counter.

"Quick tour : this is the living room, three feet behind us is the kitchen. I just disappeared into the bedroom, there is a refresher in there. Before sleeping on my bed please take off your shoes. Questions? Comments? Concerns?"

 

[Brad Solo]

He had made sure he left nothing behind. Yes, leaving those paper behind would have been bad. Defiantly since they were not normal papers. That being said they had left. It was a quiet walk in the eve. Talkative or not it had been a long time since they had walked together anywhere.

He was grateful it was quiet though, really it felt like they had said enough tonight. Well to that point in the eve they had. Seeing the trees was a nice touch. In Corrnot City the only trees you would see was in the parks, right now it was a little relaxing. Coming to a building brad looked at Dell’s home for the first time. It was modest, far more modest then what she could be living in has she accepted her half of the credits when they split. Still it was a nice quiet lovely home and Brad was happy for her.

A thumb print scan later they were into the home, Dell went back to change and Brad walked into the living area. While she changed Brad took a seat at the table and opened one of the books, that was sitting on the bookshelf next to the kitchen table. A recipe book? Brad looked through it occupying his time while waiting.

[member="Delila Castillon"] emerged wearing a military uniform, he could not help but smile. “Yes I do have a comment and no it is not the normal one about you wearing uniform”, a hint of a more pleasant time in their lives, “About the shoes on the bed that is unfair. To be fair that happened only once when we were off duty and we both had way to much to drink. To be fair I think your exact words were. Damn it, leave them on and get over here, yes it was in a quite demanding tone.”

 

[Delila Castillon]

Delila studied her reflection in the highly polished boots, cleaning up a few scuff marks that seemed to have happened since this morning and now. It didn't help she had been outdoors in the Etti IV environment until lunch, overseeing some troop exercises. Firemane Industries had a contract to train all Etti IV soldiers in addition to their work with private corporations in the sector. There was always something to do as fresh faces rotated in for training or for a transfer to locations out in the Levantine Sanctum.


Using the kitchen stool as a prop, Delila started to lace up a boot as she listened to Brad. Whatever this Force instability was it was making him sound like a drunkard. Maybe it was the wine he had knocked back at lunch adding to the mix. She didn't know [member="Brad Solo"] to be a lightweight but she supposed it was a real possibility if the conditions were right.


"Its not unfair. Anyways, you shouldn't have to worry about that. No one is getting drunk in this apartment and having sex with their shoes on." The redhead switched feet and started to lace up the other boot, probably pulling a little more tighter than was absolutely necessary. "Unless you're calling over a hooker. In that case make sure you wash my sheets."


Delila straightened back up and fixed the last few buttons on her clothes. Hair was still in a bun and she merely fixed a few flyaways. "I'll be gone for awhile so don't do anything I wouldn't"


With that, she disappeared out the door once more.

 

[Brad Solo]

Ok Brad was unsure if [member="Delila Castillon"] was being a little bit playful with some of her comments or she was being entirely serious. He hoped she believed he would not be calling up any hooker. Hopefully she knew him that well and hopefully she was just teasing.

Brad waved good bye as she exited out the door. Looking around, he was all alone now. All alone in his ex-wife’s apartment. It was a unusual set of circumstances that brought him here. Other then he was supposed to relax and maybe get some sleep. He was unsure by her comments if he should still be here by the time she got back. Well she did go out of her way to make sure he was going to be rested before he left, so maybe it would be respectful to wait tell she got back?

Brad did not know for sure but he was emotional exhausted. So he went straight to the bedroom. Standing in her room he first glanced around, just from where he was standing. He was not going to go digging around where he did not belong. Though standing there he was presented with a dilemma. He did not have pajamas and sleeping in a suit was not an option. So that left his t-shirt and a pair of boxers. Interesting enough he could lay his suit carefully on a chair by the bed. It should keep the suit wrinkle free.

So Brad took off his shoes by the chair. He placed then neatly in front of the chair, then started to take off his suit .Gently he placed his suit in a way to try to keep it wrinkle free.

There he was standing in a common white t-shirt and a white and light blue pair of boxers. His dress socks happened to be in his shoes. Brad looked over at the bed, in a slight way this was a little but awkward and in other it seemed fine. So Brad pulled back the covers and got into bed. He laid there for quite a while. It was slightly hard to get to sleep with so much on your mind but eventually he did fall asleep forgetting to set an alarm clock.

 

[Delila Castillon]

Caf steamed in her mug as she stared down at [member="Brad Solo"] 's sleeping form. Taking a sip of the hot liquid, she was clearly debating on waking him up or not. When she arrived back to the apartment late in the evening he was out like a light. No hooker and her sheets looked the same. Which was partly a shame, now she'd have to do laundry on her own.


Moving away from the large bed, Delila went and opened the heavy curtains.She had bought ones that blocked out an incredible amount of light -- perfect for sleeping in the afternoon when needed. Morning light streamed in through the large window. Taking her half-drunk caf, the redhead went back to annoying Brad once more. She was still dressed in her pajamas, hair loose around her shoulders. There was a ache in her shoulder from sleeping on the couch but hopefully it would work itself out later in the day.


"Wake up sleepyhead." Hand reached out and shook his shoulder. "Rise and shine. I was starting to think you fell into a coma."

 

[Brad Solo]

Dreaming was not always a good thing for various reasons. It clouded the mind and there was no true concept of time. It allowed you to forget your troubles or reminded you of them. It could have been because he was sleeping in her bed or the fact she was nearby. Thankfully the dreams where of better times they had together.

It was a dream of the simpler things in life. No real details of topics discussed or any real tangible period in their lives. It was just the two of them at home in the evening. In the dream he could not really determine what movie they were watching. The movie really did not seem important and was more background to the dream. What was more important was they were together on the couch snuggling. It was the warmth and the comfort that was important, the bond they once shared.

The time was not important, yet it was one of those dreams your body imagines it was being held or touched. It had dulled his senses allowing him to forget he was dreaming and past events that shaped his and Dell’s present. Really it was a twisted trick played by the Force, reversed Foresight Vision. In a way it was the way of the Force to tell someone a obscure message. It was up to the viewer to decipher the vision. What played a pivotal role is if there was emotions involved. There was and it was not helping his condition. Many did not know but he had been for some time fighting for self control. This haunting dream was fast approaching a temptation to a darker side of Brad.

What had started on the couch ended in the bedroom. It was vivid and carnal, yet was something not out of context for the two in the past. They were married after all and something of this nature was perfectly normal. The dream ended after the passionate with the two falling asleep.


Sleeping Brad lightly felt the touch upon his shoulders. In sleep there was no way to tell where he was being touched. The touch was accompanied a voice. A very familiar voice knew intimately. Slowly waking up to her touch and her voice his eyes were not opened. He could not place what she was saying exactly, he got the message she intended though.

Sitting up with [member="Delila Castillon"] close by, the covers feel off of him. His eyes opened and where he was suddenly came back to him. He was shirtless, luckily he could still feel his boxers on. It was all a bit much that he could start to feel the warmth in his checks. A definite sign he was blushing. “Good morning”, great he could at least speak, that was a good sign. “The stimcafe smells good. Is there anymore left?”

 

[Delila Castillon]

"Good morning indeed. Looks like some of us are having a better morning than others. " A slight pause. "Caf is in the kitchen."


A smirk crossed her features, digging into [member="Brad Solo"] a little. It was merely a joke but the way he had been acting it was most likely going to be taken as a slight against him. Either way she had no time to sit and commiserate over her words. There was little need to stand and breathe over him. Part of her wanted to ask why was he still gracing her presence. Seemed like a bit of a rude thing to comment on however and it was for the best she kept her mouth shut.


"I'll leave you to it."


Disappearing, Delila went back to her work at the small dining room table next to the kitchen. Coming home incredibly late, the redhead was trying to finish a few things at home -- and wake up before she disappeared again. Besides, she really didn't want to leave Brad in the house alone again. It was quite possible he would take over her room and the couch would be her new bed. That wasn't going to fly. Delila liked to sleep on her plush bed. It was such a rare luxury, normally it was hard cots or the cold ground.

 

[Brad Solo]

She said good morning. She offered where the caf was and even smiled. There were verbal cues to indicate there was a joke laced in there some where. He felt a bit of coldness or was the coldness he was feeling his emotions being manipulated by the Force. Anyways as she left the room Brad got up and started to get dress thinking about what she said. Even though it was offered, no he was told to stay and rest before he left, he felt maybe he over stayed his welcome.

After getting dress Brad walked over to the full length mirror and inspected his suit. It was wrinkle free but lacked the net pressed look he normally cared to have his suits have. Still he had little option. He still needed to travel to the starport so he could head home.

“Thank you”, coming out of the bedroom he could see [member="Delila Castillon"] sitting at the table. “For letting me stay and get rested before I left back home”, it was really time to leave. Staying any longer would only make things more difficult. If he really wanted a cup of caf he could get one on the way or at the starport.

 

[Delila Castillon]

Delila looked up from the datapad wearing her black-rimmed glasses. She only needed them for long stretches of datapad work. Honest. [member="Brad Solo"] looked a little worse for wear. Brad was all about image, how he carried and projected himself. Today that message clearly was 'I am tired and need a vacation'. Fingers stopped typing as he spoke and her shoulders came up in a small shrug.


"Don't mention it. If I was ever in the same position perhaps you'd be so kind." Opening her mouth, Delila was going to mention she did have an iron but it didn't matter. Brad was just going to a spaceport, not the court of law or the Senate.


"Safe travels." Was all she could say.

 

[Brad Solo]

Yes well standing there it suddenly hit Brad. Well it was so many things that he had suddenly realized. He felt such the fool. It was the sudden realization of what mistakes he had made. So he thought as emotions were clearly being toyed with. Mostly by the Force and maybe [member="Delila Castillon"] was manipulating him subconsciously or on purpose.

Was it really he worked so many hours because he felt a over whelming need to provide a life of comfort for his loving wife? Or did he really work so many hours because she was colder then a night nude on Hoth. Did he really fight with her so often because it was the only time he could get a emotional response from her? They did say after a fight between two lovers was always the best time. Really he felt like such a fool because for so long he truly believed she had loved him in return. Was he the only one truly committed to their marriage?

It was a lot to think about and the pain was a lot to endure. How could he still love someone that was so cruel? “Yes, stay safe”, is what he said. What he was thinking is how can you be such a heartless word that rhyme with itch! To frill with you! He wanted to scream at her. No he wanted to slap that darn look off her face. That cold look that was enraging him so much and yet he wanted to kiss her at the same time.

He did none of that though. He had just said Yes, stay safe and smiled. He had to get out of there though. Before he lost it and kicked a coffee table or destroyed half of her kitchen with what should be a simple Force Push. Brad headed for the front door. He did not say another word and he went to turn the door handle.